Prior art of possible relevance includes the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,343,599 issued Aug. 10, 1982 to Kousokabe; 4,340,339 issued July 20, 1982 to Hiraga et al; 3,802,809 issued Apr. 9, 1974 to Vulliez; 4,332,535 issued June 1, 1982 to Terauchi et al; 4,065,279 issued Dec. 27, 1977 to McCullough; 4,314,796 issued Feb. 9, 1982 to Terauchi; 4,365,941 issued Dec. 28, 1982 to Tojo et al; 4,350,479 issued Sept. 21, 1982 to Tojo et al; and 4,129,405 issued Dec. 12, 1978 to McCullough.
As evidenced by the above identified patents, over the years there have been a number of proposals of positive displacement apparatus of the scroll type, frequently, but not always, for use as compressors in refrigeration systems. Though theoretically practical, they have not been commercialized to any significant extent due to a variety of problems including sealing and lubricating difficulties.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.